Santos rage at Neymar dismissal: 'He has to leave the country'

Brazilian superstar Neymar saw red as Santos secured a 1-1 away draw at high-flying Grêmio on Sunday night, much to the annoyance of his team.

Neymar, 20, was booked after complaining to the referee following a foul early in the second-half and was later shown a straight-red for a perceived stamp on former team-mate Pará, with both decisions receiving derision from players and pundits alike.

The player himself attempted to shed light on the first decision, in which he claims he suggested to the referee that he could have played advantage.

"He needs to have common sense too," Neymar complained to Globo Esporte. "I had not spoken with him [the referee] all game, I just spoke about this incident and he showed me a yellow.

"I said that they were knocking me and I was still on my feet, I could have taken advantage, that he could punish it later. He showed me a yellow and even signalled for me to shut up."

Coach Muricy Ramalho was equally annoyed with the decision and let his feelings be known at the post-match press conference. The Santos coach believes that Grêmio fans' calling-out Neymar for suggested diving influenced the official in his decision making.

"I think he [the referee] got carried away by the occasion," he complained. "For the first, he said Neymar complained, but for the second?

"Neymar has been kicked about all game and they did nothing. He fell on him[Pará] but he did nothing. They said he was diving, but he did nothing and just continued to take the punches.

"The referee over-reacted and it hurt us. It's annoying that this type of officialdom should occur to Neymar. He has to leave the country, no doubt."

It is not the first-time that Neymar has fallen foul to over-zealous officialdom, having previously been dismissed for wearing a mask of his face thrown from the crowd as part of a goal celebration.